


A Very Castiel Christmas

by WingedHuntress



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Lights, Christmas Music, Christmas Tree, Destiel - Freeform, First Christmas, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Human Castiel, Ice Skating, Jealous Dean, M/M, Meddling Sam, POV Dean Winchester, Sam Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 22:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12827424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingedHuntress/pseuds/WingedHuntress
Summary: Cas is excited to celebrate his first Christmas as a human. Dean has never been into celebrating the holidays. But when Cas announces he has a date to the Christmas Extravaganza, Dean is suddenly ready to don his gay apparel and deck the halls until his hot chocolate is cold and the Christmas tree is dead.





	A Very Castiel Christmas

**A Very Castiel Christmas**

Chapter 1

 

Snow fell onto the front windshield of Baby as Dean watched the wipers go back and forth, listening to a very excited Cas talk about all the things he wanted to do for his first Christmas as a human. Dean couldn’t help but smirk as Cas talked about baking Christmas cookies, building snowmen, and listening to every Christmas song that was ever made. Christmas had never been one of Dean’s favorite holidays, it only reminded him of all the lonely ones him and Sam had experienced, but seeing Cas’ blue eyes fill with excitement was making him second guess himself. With Cas, he might just have a reason to like it. But, he couldn’t picture himself in the kitchen baking cookies or building snowmen like Cas was envisioning himself doing either. But it also tugged at his heart to think of Cas doing those things alone.

“Dean!” Cas exclaimed as he stared at his phone, mesmerized by whatever had caught his attention.

“Cas, dammit, I told you, you can’t yell like that when I’m driving,” Dean said, looking over to see Cas peering down at his phone, a dopey smile plastered across his face.

“Sorry, Dean, but there’s a Christmas Extravaganza next weekend about a half hour from us. They’ll be turning on the lights downtown and serving hot chocolate. Oh, and they’ll even have an ice skating rink set up.”

“Cas, that’s not something Sam or I do,” Dean said. He gave Cas a quick glance just in time to see disappointment replace the excitement he’d had just seconds before.

“Oh, well, maybe I can find a date to go. Isn’t that what humans do?” he asked, blue eyes peering up at him innocently. 

Dean stiffened and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Dean?”

“Yeah, Cas, that’s what humans do,” he said through clenched teeth.

Cas looked out the passenger side, his thoughts drifting to who he could ask to go with him to this Christmas Extravaganza, because it was something he knew he didn’t want to miss.

His eyes suddenly lit up as he said, “I’ll ask Sarah.”

Dean jerked the wheel to the right, the tires kicking up clumps of snow and dirt as they veered into the grass. He quickly jerked it back, centering them back into the right hand lane.

“Dean? What happened?” Cas asked, looking behind them to see what he’d missed.

“Nothing, I just…I thought I saw an animal in the road,” Dean said.

Cas looked behind them again and squinted in confusion at the empty road behind them. “But…”

“Who’s Sarah?” Dean cut in.

Turning his attention back to Dean, Cas said, “A girl who works down at the library.”

“And you’ve talked to this girl before?” Dean questioned, his eyes focused straight ahead, not wanting to look at Cas for fear he’d give his feelings away. Of course Cas would want to date when he became human? He should have known this would happen.

“Yes, I talk to her at least once a week when I go there,” Cas said.

“Oh, okay, then,” was all Dean could manage.

“Is it too soon to ask her out?” Cas asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

Dean took in his disappointment and sighed. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to go on a date with you. Why wouldn’t she be?”

Cas’ lips twisted to the side in a little smirk. “Well, not to sound egotistical, but I was referred to as the best looking Angel in the Garrison.”

Dean smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I bet you were, buddy.”

 

Dean pulled out a beer and slammed the refrigerator door shut harder than he’d intended to. He looked up to see Sam staring at him. “What?” he asked, his tone laced with irritation.

“Everything okay?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, fine,” he said as he took a seat across from Sam. He leaned back and kicked his feet up on the table, and just as he started to take a sip of beer, Cas walked through and headed towards Sam.

“Sam, does this outfit look okay? Like, to, you know, impress the ladies?” Cas’ lips quirked up as he looked at Sam.

“Uh,” Sam began, squinting at Cas’ sweater vest and the blue plaid shirt underneath it. He nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, it looks great, Cas.”

“Where are you going?” Dean asked as he sat the beer back down on the table.

Cas paused, his hand resting on the door handle, and turned around. “To the library.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Isn’t it kind of late to be going out?”

“Dean, it’s only five in the evening. The library doesn’t close until eight,” Cas said simply.

“Yeah, but we were getting ready to make some dinner. Aren’t ya hungry?”

Shaking his head, Cas said, “But Dean, we just ate two hours ago.”

Sam smirked across from him and Dean shot him a look.

“What? We never said anything about making dinner,” Sam stated smugly.

Dean continued to glare at Sam.

“I’ll be back later,” Cas said and headed out the door.

“Is everything okay?” Sam asked with a huff.

Dean grabbed his beer and stood. “I’ll be in my room.”

 

The next morning Cas walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with his hair disheveled from sleep.

“Morning, sunshine. Gotcha some coffee,” Dean said as he slid a glass of black coffee towards Cas.

“Thanks, Dean,” Cas mumbled as he took the cup in his hand.

“And I got your eggs and bacon ready, just how you like them, sunny side up and the bacon extra crispy.” Dean gave him a grin as he sat a plate of food in front of him.

Cas looked down at the food thoughtfully and then up at Dean. “What’s this?”

“It’s called breakfast, Cas,” Dean said. “You have to eat now that you’re human, remember, so there ya go.”

“I’ve been human for six months and you’ve never made me breakfast before,” Cas stated.

Dean turned and began cleaning up the mess. “Yeah, well, I was just in the mood to cook, okay?”

Cas shrugged and shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “Okay.”

Sam shuffled into the kitchen and eyed Cas’ plate of food on the table. He looked up at Dean, a smirk forming on his face, and asked, “Did you make my breakfast, too?”

Dean turned around and said, “No, Sam, you weren’t awake.”

Frowning, Cas said, “But Dean, I wasn’t awake yet either.”

Sam’s gaze shifted from Dean to Cas and then back to Dean, waiting on an explanation.

Dean turned his back on them and wiped down the counter. “Yeah, well, Cas is newly human so he doesn’t know how to cook yet.”

“Dean, he just cooked us breakfast last week,” Sam stated as he took a seat across from Cas, eying his plate of food.

“Do I have ‘Chef Dean’ written across my forehead? But, if it’s that big of a deal, Sam, I’ll make you eggs, too.”

Shaking his head, Sam turned to Cas and asked, “So how’d it go last night at the library?”

With a mouthful of food, Cas said, “I now have a date for the extravaganza.”

Sam smiled and said, “That’s great, man.”

Dean turned and walked out of the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

Dean paced the length of the hallway, listening to Cas in his bedroom as he talked on the phone with someone. With the softness in his voice and the flirty laugh here and there, it was obvious he was talking to the girl from the library. The extravaganza was only a few days away, and Cas had already been fussing over what he should wear, and Dean swore that if he came into his room one more time to ask if the outfit in question looked good, he’d throw his beer bottle against the wall and scream.

“Okay, Sarah, I’ll see you Saturday, then,” he heard Cas say.

He huffed, ran a hand through his hair, and went to turn for his own bedroom, but just as he whirled around, he came face to face with Sam staring blankly at him.

“Hey, what were you doing?” Sam asked, looking from Dean to Cas’ closed door.

Dean’s eyes shifted from side to side. “Um, just heading to my room. Why, ya need something?”

Sam looked at him, opened his mouth to say something, and then just shook his head. Dean quickly pushed passed him, slamming his door behind him. He flopped back onto his bed and put his headphones on, wanting to shut out the world for awhile, especially the thought of Cas going on a date.

A few minutes went by and his eyes drifted shut as his muscles began to relax. He jerked awake when he felt a tap on his boot and looked up to see Cas peering down at him. Dean pulled the headphones off and said, “What’s up, Cas?”

“Dean, does this shirt look okay for Saturday?” Cas asked as he tugged on the front of the shirt in question. “I’m not sure if this is my color or not.”

Dean pulled in a long breath, trying to stay calm. He eyed the navy blue shirt Cas was wearing and took in how it hugged every muscle on his torso and brought out his baby blue eyes perfectly. He gritted his teeth and said, “This is the tenth shirt you’ve asked me about. You look great in everything, Cas.”

Cas squinted down at Dean. “I do?”

“Yeah, ya do,” Dean said taking the hardness out of his tone and replacing it with a softer one instead, even though it killed him to act like he was okay with the whole date thing.

Cas studied him for a moment, raised one brow, and nodded. “Thanks, Dean.” And then turned and left.

Dean watched him walk out and after a few minutes went downstairs and grabbed another beer. A piece of paper on the table caught his eye and he picked it up. He studied the name, Sarah, along with the phone number for several minutes, and then stuffed it in his pocket, grabbed his beer, and headed back to his room.

 

It was the day of the Extravaganza and Dean stood staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He rubbed a hand down his face as he thought about the phone call he’d just made. Sure, it wasn’t a nice thing to do, but sometimes things had to be done. The girl probably wasn’t good enough for Cas anyway. At least, that’s what he told himself.

He walked downstairs and found Sam and Cas sitting at the table. Sam was doing some research on the computer, hoping to find a case, and Cas was watching, _Orange is the New Black,_ on his laptop. They both looked up when he walked in.

“Hey, Dean, did you happen to see a piece of paper on the table?” Cas asked as he paused the show.

Taking a seat, Dean said, “Um, yeah, why?”

“Well, it had Sarah’s number on it. I don’t have it memorized and I need to call her to tell her I’ll be there to pick her up soon.”

Dean popped the top off his beer and said, “Oh, well, I already took care of that for you. I told her you couldn’t go.”

Cas narrowed his eyes and Sam looked up from his computer.

“Why would you do that?” Cas questioned.

“I just figured I’d take you. I wouldn’t mind seeing what it’s all about anyway,” he said, trying his best to sound casual. He took a sip of his beer, and seeing them both still staring, said, “What?”

“But isn’t that like a…” Cas started only to get cut off by Dean.

“No,” Dean said as he took another sip.

“So, Cas had a date but you told her not to go so you could take him out instead?” Sam reiterated.

“Yes, Sam, I did.”

“How is that not like a date?”

“Because it’s not, now shut your face,” he said pointing his finger towards him. He looked at Cas who still had that adorably confused look on his face and said, “Cas, go get ready, we’ll leave in an hour.”

 

An hour later, Dean was dressed in dark jeans, a tight fitting, black long sleeved shirt, and black boots, waiting for Cas by the door. He glanced at his watch and sighed. He looked up when he finally saw Cas walk around the corner, wearing the navy blue, tight fitting shirt he’d shown him last night, and dark jeans. It was still hard for Dean to get used to seeing him in regular clothes, other than the trench coat, but he couldn’t help but appreciate how good he looked tonight.

“Is this okay, Dean?” Cas asked as he ran a hand awkwardly down the front of him. He looked up and met Dean’s eyes and said, “I tried to pick the one you seemed to like the best.”

Dean swallowed and nodded. “You look nice, Cas.”

“You two kids have fun tonight,” Sam said as he rounded the corner, smiling wide.

Dean glared at him and said, “Don’t wait up, Sammy.”

Cas had Christmas music playing the whole way there, and even though _Deck the Halls_ was about to drive him insane, Dean couldn’t help but smile every time he saw Cas singing along to the song. He hated Christmas music, but wasn’t about to tell Cas to turn it off. This was Cas’ night and he didn’t want to ruin it.

They parked Baby a few blocks away and began walking towards the main square. Christmas lights twinkled from small shops along the way and snow was lightly falling.

A horse that was attached to a buggy whinnied up ahead and Cas said, “Dean, can we ride in that?”

He pointed at the horse and buggy and Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure,” he said, trying to hide his smirk.

Dean gave the guy money and they climbed inside the buggy. The click clack of horse’s hooves echoed in the air and Cas looked out his side as they rode deeper into the city. Dean tried to focus on the scenery, since that’s what the buggy ride was for, but Cas’ leg was pressed against his own and every so often the hand that Cas had rested on his thigh would brush his leg. It was distracting, and then Cas leaned over him, pointing at the ice skating rink to Dean’s left.

“Dean, we need to do that, too,” Cas said with wide eyes.

Cas’ face was just mere inches from his and Dean had to tear his eyes away to look at the ice skating rink to his left. He couldn’t find his words as the scent of Cas’ cologne drifted towards him. He smelled woodsy with fruity undertones. It was nice.

“Dean?”

Cas tilted his face up at him, his eyes questioning, and no coherent words would form in Dean’s mind. There was only the feel of Cas’ warm breath tickling his neck. There was only blue eyes finding his in the shadows of the buggy. And there was only the weight of Cas leaning across his thighs. He licked his lips, trying to refocus his thoughts, and when he dragged himself out of the haze of desire, he said, “Uh, yeah, Cas, anything you want.”

Cas’ eyes danced across his face for a few seconds, almost as if he was considering something that was questionable, but he slowly leaned back into his spot and said, “Thanks, Dean.”

“No problem, Cas.” 

They rode in the buggy for another fifteen minutes as the horse wove them in and around traffic along the snow covered rode. Cas would point at certain lights that would catch his eye and would occasionally discuss what he liked and disliked about how humans celebrated Christmas. Dean found himself nodding and half listening, sidetracked by the spark of excitement in Cas’ eyes and the cozy warm feeling as they sat close in the buggy.

“Yes, you humans and your traditions always surprise me. But, I guess since I’m newly human, I can now join in on all those silly traditions,” Cas said, causing the buggy driver to look back at them with a questioning look on his face.

Dean shrugged and smiled, not even bothering to give the guy an explanation.

“And later tonight,” Cas continued, “we can put up the Christmas tree and lights in the bunker.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Cas, we don’t even have a tree. Or lights.”

Cas thought about it for a moment and said with a shrug, “Well, we’ll just have to stop at the Christmas tree farm on the way home.”

“And how are we going to get it home?” Dean asked as he threw his hands up.

“Well, we’ll tie it to the hood, of course,” Cas stated.

“We’ll what?!” Dean exclaimed, but when he looked into Cas’ face and remembered how excited he had been to celebrate his first Christmas, he knew he would be riding home with that damn tree strapped to Baby’s hood. “Fine, Cas,” he relented with a sigh. 

The horse finally came to a stop and the driver turned around. “Rides’ over,” he said.

Cas stepped out first and Dean followed.

“Thank you, sir, and have a Merry Christmas,” Cas said with a big smile.

Dean shook his head and smiled.

“Dean, are you ready to skate on that big block of ice?”

Dean looked over to see Cas’ eyebrows raised in question. “Yeah, we can go ice skating, Cas,” he said as they began walking down the busy sidewalk.

Dean hadn’t been ice skating since he was a kid, but he figured it was like riding a bike. He slipped the skates on and looked over to see Cas doing the same. He wasn’t sure how coordinated a newly human Cas would be out on the ice, but figured it would be fun regardless.

He stood and when he got his balance, he looked down at Cas. “Are you ready?”

Cas nodded and slowly stood. His legs wobbled and he swayed from side to side. “Dean!” he yelled as he frantically tried to find his balance, but was failing miserably.

Dean reached out to grab his elbows and steady him, but in desperation, Cas’ hands clutched into his as he held on for dear life, a look of panic on his face. “I got you, just hold on a second,” he laughed.

“Dean, this isn’t funny,” Cas said, his deep voice cracking with fear.

Dean laughed again and said, “It’s fine, just hold onto me and I’ll lead you out there.” He wrapped one arm around Cas’ waist and slipped his other hand into Cas’.

“Dean, I don’t think I can go out there,” Cas said as he stared out at the ice rink.

“You’ll do fine. I won’t leave your side, I promise,” Dean said.

Cas looked at the ice rink with trepidation and sighed. “Okay,”

Dean urged him forward and they both inched slowly towards the rink.

“Okay, let me get onto the ice first so I can get my barrings, and then you can follow. Just hold onto the wall right here,” Dean said as he led Cas to the wall that lined the ice skating rink.

He took a few cautious steps out onto the ice, and when he was able to move around with confidence that he wasn’t going to fall, he made his way over to Cas. “Okay, now it’s your turn,” he said as he held out his hand to him. Cas took his hands and baby stepped towards him as he kept his eyes glued to the ground. Dean wanted to laugh at how careful Cas was being, but didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so he bit his lip and waited on Cas to finally step out onto the ice on his own time.

As soon as Cas had both feet on the ice and hadn’t fallen down yet, Dean said, “See, you got this.”

With a death grip on Dean’s hands, Cas said, “I didn’t realize this was going to be so complicated.”

Dean laughed. “Come on, move your feet a little so we can start actually ice skating.”

Cas gave him an exasperated look, but began scooting his feet along the ice.

They were barely moving and Dean found himself staring down at their hands clasped together. He liked the feel of his hands wrapped around Cas’. Their hands fit together perfectly. It was such a perfect fit that it was hard to see any difference between Cas’ hands and his own. His eyes stared back at the man in front of him and he smiled at the look of sheer concentration on Cas’ face.

“Dean, I think I’ve got it now,” Cas said.

Dean frowned because they hadn’t picked up any speed yet. “Cas, we’re barely moving.”

Cas finally lifted his head to look at Dean. “Yes, but I haven’t fallen yet.”

That statement sounded so simple right now, but it hit him hard because he had fallen a long time ago. For him. And Dean realized he had fallen, too. Only in a different way than Cas had. He had fallen in love. And it was all so clear right now.

He swallowed hard at those thoughts and said, “No, you’re doing great, buddy.” He always made sure to add in “buddy” as a way of diverting his trailing thoughts so no one could see his true feelings that lingered just below the surface.

Cas’ feet scraped back and forth against the ice as he stared at Dean. His brow furrowed just slightly as he said, “Thank you, Dean.”

He realized he was unconsciously rubbing his thumbs across the back of Cas’ hands. He cleared his throat and gave them a quick squeeze and said, “Okay, let’s see if we can’t go a little faster because there are two year olds passing us.”

Cas nodded and they began to pick up speed.

It wasn’t long before Dean was able to let go of one of Cas’ hands and move to his side. They were still skating slow, but Cas’ confidence was growing. Dean knew how it looked for them to be holding hands while ice skating, but he didn’t care. He was enjoying it and he had no problem taking care of whoever tried to take this moment away from him with a negative comment. But thankfully, there had yet to be any. They skated for another hour, and even though Cas had picked up his pace even more, Dean never let go of his hand. He told himself it was to make sure Cas didn’t fall, but deep down he knew he enjoyed it, and Cas didn’t seem to mind.

“This is fun, Dean,” Cas said next to him.

He looked over at him and nodded. “Yeah, it is. I told ya you had nothing to worry about.”

Cas rubbed his hands together to warm them up and said, “Well, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Are you cold? We could grab some hot chocolate to warm us up,” Dean suggested as he spotted a hot chocolate stand halfway down the sidewalk.

“That sounds good.”

They changed out of their skates and back into their shoes and headed down the sidewalk to the stand. 

“We’ll take two hot chocolates.” Dean smiled at the man wearing reindeer antlers on his head and shifted from foot to foot as a cold gust of wind blew. He looked over at Cas to see him shivering. “These will warm us right up.”

Cas nodded as he took his hot chocolate from the guy.

They began walking as they sipped their hot chocolate and waited for the grand lighting of the tree and town square. They stopped next to a railing that overlooked the ice skating rink and watched people skate for awhile. Some were flying and weaving through the crowd like pros. Others were flailing around and falling down on the ice. Dean took another sip of his hot chocolate and looked over at Cas. “How’s the hot chocolate?”

“Hot and chocolaty,” Cas stated and gave Dean a smile that was lined with whipped cream.

Dean started laughing.

“What’s so funny, Dean?”

Once he got a grip on his laughter, he leaned in towards Cas and swiped along the top of his lip with his thumb. He paused, his thumb now resting on Cas’ cheek, as he stared into blue eyes that always seemed to pull him in. The sound of a loud bell chiming in the distance broke their connection, and he took a step back and said, “There, I got it.” He pulled his eyes from Cas’ and watched as the crowd began walking towards the square. “It looks like it’s time for the lights. This is what you were excited about, right?” Dean said as he draped his arm around Cas’ shoulders and urged him forward.

“Yes, it is,” Cas said quietly as he sank into Dean’s embrace.

At the feel of his body pressing deeper into his, Dean glanced at Cas from the corner of his eye. This would be the moment that Dean would release his grip on Cas and continue walking with space between them, but he kept his arm around him this time, letting himself enjoy the moment. Plus, it helped that Cas didn’t seem to mind, if anything, he was melting into him even farther. Maybe he was cold, Dean thought, and pulled him in even closer. With Cas this close, he could smell the light honey scent of his shampoo and feel the day old stubble rub against his neck. He clenched his jaw at the feeling, knowing it would never be anything more than this right here. Cas was his best friend. He couldn’t cross that line with him. And, he was positive Cas didn’t feel the same way. Cas had plans with a woman tonight, not a man, and not him. Maybe he would rather have been with that, Stephanie or Sandra girl, whatever her name had been. That thought caused Dean’s grip around Cas to loosen.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

They sat on a wooden bench with hot chocolate in hand and stared up at the large Christmas tree just in time to see it and the square come to life in an array of lights. Everyone cheered and Dean looked over to see Cas staring up at the tree, a smile covering his face. 

“It’s beautiful, Dean,” he whispered. 

Dean hadn’t taken his eyes off Cas yet, so he had no idea what the tree actually looked like, but that’s not what he was referring to when he replied, “Yes, it is.” 

Cas turned to him, the Christmas lights casting beautiful colors across his skin, and when he saw Dean staring at him, his smile turned softer. 

Dean was use to their gazes lingering on each other longer than normal, but right now it hit him harder than usual. There was a different feeling that was pulsating between them right now, or maybe it had always been there and Dean was just seeing it for the first time with a different outlook. He felt himself leaning towards Cas, his body pressing into his, and Cas was leaning into him as well. Was he finally going to let this moment he’d been fantasizing about for years happen? And was Cas actually wanting it to happen? 

Clapping from the crowd broke the trance they shared and Dean cleared his throat and looked away. “It looks like they got the star on,” he said distractedly. 

“Yes, it looks nice,” Cas stated absently as he fidgeted with his hands in his lap. 

Dean felt the emotions shift between them and hoped he hadn’t ruined the night. He’d wanted this Christmas event to be special since it was Cas’ first Christmas and he had been excited about the whole extravaganza. 

After awhile, the crowd began to thin out, leaving them alone on the bench. He saw Cas shiver slightly, their hot chocolates long gone, and he turned to face him and said, “Here, lemme fix that.” He snapped the top button of his coat and wrapped Cas’ scarf around his neck tighter. “There, is that better?”

“Yes, it is. Thank you, Dean. Are you ready to go now?” 

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

Cas looked around at the mostly vacant square and everyone packing up their things. “Well, it looks like it’s over, so I’m ready now.” 

They walked down the sidewalk under a mixture of lights and bright, winter stars, neither saying much. When they finally got to Baby, Dean walked over to Cas’ side and said, “Here, let me get that. I think I locked it.” He lifted the handle to the door that was clearly not locked, and opened the door for Cas, “After you,” he gestured with his hand. 

Cas cocked his head to the side in a silent question, but got in without saying a word. 

Dean started the car and said, “Okay, I guess we’re off to the tree farm.”

They pulled into the parking lot of Collin’s Christmas Trees, and after parking Baby, they began searching for the perfect tree. Cas was being overly picky and Dean wasn’t sure if they would find a tree that suited his taste, but after thirty minutes of Cas saying no to every one Dean picked out, he finally pointed at one in the back.

“That’s it, Dean,” he said, pointing to the biggest tree on the lot.

Dean studied the tree, not sure if it would even fit on the hood of Baby. “It sure is big,” he said as he stared up at the tree.

“Yes, but it has a perfect symmetrical shape,” Cas said as he looked at the tree in awe.

“Get ready to grab an end,” Dean said as he grabbed one end of the tree. He watched Cas hurry and grab the other end and they headed to the front to pay.

Grumbling, Dean tied the massive tree to the hood of Baby, cringing every time he heard the tree limbs scrap across the paint. The car had been through hell and back, so he figured tying a tree to the hood wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the other things the car has been through. After he tightened the last strap, he stood back and studied what looked like a driving hazard. The top of the tree hung over the front windshield and the back completely covered the back windshield.

He gave a Cas a nod and said, “Well, let’s hit the road.” 

They rode home in silence, letting _Jingle Bells_ fill in the empty space between them. Dean thrummed his fingers on the wheel as he peered out the windshield through a tiny space that wasn’t covered by green foliage and thought back to that almost kiss. He looked over at Cas in the shadows of the passenger seat. His hair was slightly disheveled from the toboggan he’d been wearing while they had searched for the perfect tree and his cheeks were tinted pink from the warmth of the heater. 

Once they parked the car, Dean paused and turned to face Cas. “I hope this was everything you thought it would be. I know how excited you were to go tonight,” he said. 

“Yes, it was. Thank you for bringing me, Dean. I had a good time.”

Dean studied his face, not sure how Cas had felt about him canceling his plans with Sarah. He suddenly felt kinda bad about it. “Look, Cas, I’m sorry I told Sarah not to show up. I’m sure you would’ve rather have gone with her instead.” 

“No, Dean, I had a great time with you. You were a perfect gentleman.” 

Dean snorted and suddenly realized how date-like this night had really been. And he also realized that Cas seemed oddly okay with it. Had he been misjudging him all along? 

“Um, how about I walk you to the door, then, since I’m a gentleman and all,” Dean said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Cas squinted up at him. “Dean, we both live here.”

“Right,” Dean said with a smile. 

They walked towards the bunker and Dean stopped at the door. He had no idea what to say but knew he wasn’t ready to just walk inside and pretend this had just been another regular night. He sighed and turned to Cas. “Look, I had a really fun time tonight. I just wanted you to know that. And I thought...I don’t know, that we could do it again sometime. You know, just us two.” He gestured between them, not sure if Cas was getting the point. Hell, he wasn’t sure what point he was trying to make. That what, he wanted to date Cas? 

“Dean, are you referring to how people go on dates?” Cas asked with a slight inclination of his head. 

Dean sighed and threw his hands up. “Uh, yeah maybe?” He had no idea what he was doing here. 

“Dean, it looks like we’re standing under a mistletoe. Isn’t it a tradition of humans to kiss under it?” Cas asked as he studied the mistletoe hanging above their heads. 

Dean looked up at the greenery that hung above their heads like a sign, and then at Cas who had his eyebrows raised at him expectantly. He swallowed, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Yes, it is.” And without thinking about what he was doing, he took two steps towards Cas, put his hands on his cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss. To Dean’s surprise, Cas didn’t balk or stand frozen in fear. Instead, he melted into the kiss, sliding his tongue into his and deepening the kiss between them. His hand wrapped around Dean’s neck, pulling him closer until their bodies were pressing against each other. Dean could feel the rise and fall of Cas’ chest as his breathing quickened. He could feel the warmth of his body taking away the chill of the cold, winter night. But most of all, he felt all of his insecurities dissolve in that kiss. Because in that moment, he realized Cas had wanted this just as much as he had. 

They finally pulled apart and with a shaky voice, Dean said, “I’m glad I finally had an excuse to do that.” 

Cas looked at him with blue eyes full of tenderness and said, “Dean, you never needed an excuse to kiss me. I’ve been waiting this whole time for you to be ready.” 

Dean stared at him, unsure if he had heard him right. “You have?” He choked out. 

“Yes, I have. I just didn’t want to pressure you.”

“So, you’re okay with me busting up your date tonight then?” He asked with a cocky grin. 

Cas smirked and said, “I wasn’t being completely honest with you, Dean. That date was just a sham. I was hoping you’d break it up.” 

Dean’s eyes widened at the sneaky plan Cas had whipped up. “You did all that on your own?” 

“Well, Sam and Sarah were in on it, too,” Cas stated with an amused smile. 

“So you guys all ganged up on me?” Dean said. 

“Well, the plan worked, didn’t it?” 

Dean smiled and pulled Cas in for another kiss, liking the fact that he could freely do so now without needing an excuse. 

“Yes, it did,” he said, his lips brushing softly against Cas’. “Come on, lets go inside, I need to have a word with my meddling brother,” Dean said as he grabbed Cas’ hand and opened the door. 

Sam looked up from his laptop when he heard the front door open and then his eyes widened when he saw their hands intertwined. A knowing smile slowly crept across his face as he said, “So, how’d this non-date go?” 

Dean gave Cas a wink. “Well, you kinda crossed the line tonight, Sammy,” Dean began in a hard tone. When he saw Sam’s face fall in confusion, he added. “But, you’re lucky it was in a good way.” 

“Ah, So Cas told you the plan we came up with?” 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I know. Let’s just say that I was pleasantly surprised. And you should be pleasantly surprised that I didn’t want to come home and kill you.” 

“I told Cas I knew it would work.”

Cas leaned in and elbowed Sam in the side. “That was a nice touch with the mistletoe, by the way.”

Sam smiled. “Yeah, I thought so too.”

“Wait,” Dean cut in. His eyes shifted between the two before finally landing on Sam. He held up a finger, and said, “You knew it would work?” 

“Yeah, Dean, I did. You think you hide your feelings, but you really don’t. And it’s about time this happened,” Sam said, gesturing at their hands. 

Dean looked over at Cas, smiled, and said, “I guess I just needed a little kick in the ass.”

 

Dean reclined back in a chair, a cup of coffee in hand, as Cas and Sam put the enormous tree up in its stand. Once it was finally situated, he couldn’t help but laugh when Cas turned to him with pieces of pine needles in his hair. “Cas, come here,” he said, gesturing with his free hand.

Cas walked over to him and Dean stood and ran his hand through Cas’ hair, knocking the pine needles onto the floor. He planted a kiss on his lips and said, “Now, we just need to decorate the beast.”

After rummaging through the storage bins, they found a few boxes from the Men of Letters that were full of Christmas decorations. Cas said they had hit the jack pot and they all chipped in to decorate the tree. It had taken longer than Dean thought it would, but an hour later, they all stood back and admired their handy work.

“It looks nice,” Sam said as he stared up at the tree. “This is like the first real Christmas for all of us.”

Dean nodded at Sam’s comment, because this was their first real Christmas, and he didn’t think it would’ve ever happened if Cas wasn’t here.

“It’s perfect,” Cas said, looking over at Dean with a smile.

The lights from the tree gave a beautiful white glow behind Cas, reminding Dean of Cas’ true Angel form. Angel or human, he was perfect regardless. Without looking at the tree, Dean grabbed Cas’ hand and said, “Yes, you are.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you have enjoyed this little Christmas story!


End file.
